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Missouri Public School Accreditation and Funding Initiative (2022)

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Missouri Public School Accreditation and Funding Initiative
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Election date
November 8, 2022
Topic
Education
Status
Not on the ballot
Type
Constitutional amendment		Origin
Citizens

The Missouri Public School Accreditation and Funding Initiative was not on the ballot in Missouri as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.

The initiative would have amended the Missouri Constitution to prohibit vouchers, tax credits, tuition subsidies and other funding for non-public schools and establish a uniform method of public school accreditation.[1][2]

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title was follows:[2]

“ Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
  • remove opportunities for disabled, special needs, and those students who are economically disadvantaged by eliminating public funding to non-public elementary and secondary schools through vouchers, tax credits, tuition subsidies and other funding for student attendance and staff employment;
  • expand the power of the state board of education over areas currently under the control of local school boards by requiring the state board to implement and supervise a uniform method of evaluation and accreditation for all public elementary and secondary schools who receive public funding including charter schools?

State governmental entities expect saving of $25 million to $50 million annually. Local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings. [3]

”

The above ballot summary was written by a Cole County judge after a lawsuit was filed by proponents against the summary drafted by the secretary of state. To read more about the lawsuit, click here.

Full text

  • The full text of the measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Missouri

The state process

In Missouri, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for governor in the previous gubernatorial election in six of the eight state congressional districts. Signatures must be filed with the secretary of state six months prior to the election.

The requirements to get an initiated constitutional amendment certified for the 2022 ballot:

  • Signatures: The smallest possible requirement was 171,592 valid signatures. The actual requirement depends on the congressional districts in which signatures were collected.
  • Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was May 8, 2022.

Once the signatures have been filed with the secretary of state, the secretary copies the petition sheets and transmits them to county election authorities for verification. The secretary of state may choose whether the signatures are to be verified by a 5 percent random sample or full verification. If the random sampling projects between 90 percent and 110 percent of required signatures, a full check of all signatures is required. If more than 110 percent, the initiative is certified, and, if less than 90 percent, the initiative fails.

Details about this initiative

  • On August 25, 2021, Sherri Talbott filed the initiative.[2]
  • On October 6, 2021, the secretary of state cleared the initiative for signature gathering.[2]
  • This initiative did not meet the signature requirements by the May 8, 2022 deadline.[4]

Lawsuit

  
Lawsuit overview
Issue: Whether the certified ballot language and summary is accurate
Court: Cole County Circuit Court
Ruling: The majority of the summary is accurate; rewrote portion concerning parental influence
Plaintiff(s): Sherri Talbott, a member of the Northwest School District Board of Education and sponsor of the initiativeDefendant(s): Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R)
Plaintiff argument:
The language omits one of the purposes of the initiative and is biased against the initiative		Defendant argument:
Unknown

  Source: News Tribune

In October 2021, Sherri Talbott, a member of the Northwest School District Board of Education and sponsor of the initiative, filed a lawsuit against Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft (R) arguing that the ballot language Ashcroft certified for the initiative when it was cleared for signature gathering "omits a central purpose of the measure and distorts the likely impact of the measure in a manner designed to inflame prejudice against it." She is asking the court to vacate the ballot language and adopt the following:[5]

“ Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
  • Preserve public funding for use in public schools by limiting certain public funding including vouchers and tax credits for student attendance and staff employment at non-public elementary and secondary schools, with exceptions permitting five types of public funding for non-public schools, including state charitable tax deductions;
  • Require the state Board of Education to implement and supervise a uniform method of evaluation and accreditation of all elementary and secondary schools receiving public funding.[3]
 ”

On February 2, 2022, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Jon Beetem ruled that most of the summary drafted by the secretary of state was accurate and fair. He did change a portion of the summary related to parental influence. The new ballot summary as ordered by the judge is as follows:[6]

“ Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to:
  • remove opportunities for disabled, special needs, and those students who are economically disadvantaged by eliminating public funding to non-public elementary and secondary schools through vouchers, tax credits, tuition subsidies and other funding for student attendance and staff employment;
  • expand the power of the state board of education over areas currently under the control of local school boards by requiring the state board to implement and supervise a uniform method of evaluation and accreditation for all public elementary and secondary schools who receive public funding including charter schools?[3]
 ”

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "Full text," accessed October6, 2021
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Missouri Secretary of State, "List of petitions," accessed August 31, 2021
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. ↑ Missouri Secretary of State, "2022 Initiative Petitions Approved for Circulation in Missouri," accessed May 9, 2022
  5. ↑ News Tribune, "Court asked to change language on potential school funding ballot issue," October 18, 2021
  6. ↑ Missouri Courts, "Final Order and Judgement," accessed February 3, 2022
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